Great web design and development are business weapon

Simple Web Design Techniques to Help Create Websites for Businesses

Websites are more than just a platform to stuff loads of information on. They can also be a presentation and a direct image of your business. A clean and precise website represents a professional and efficient company. Web design is important and must be approached carefully to ensure your website does not only just display all the necessary information; but also looks and feels great to use. Here are some simple methods to help you design and develop a great looking website.

1. Create a logo that represents you Every business or brand needs a logo that represents them. There is nowhere better than to display that logo on your website where everyone can see it. Whether you already have a logo or need to create one; implement it into your website design and have it link to your homepage. The most common and probably the best position to place the logo would be at the top left of you website. This helps to improve brand awareness and helps users to navigate the website more easily.

2. Easy to use and simple Navigation One of the most important features of any website is the way users will navigate it. What is the point in creating all these web pages that are rich in information and have the users not able to display them. The main thing to think about when designing a navigation system for your website is to keep it simple. Aunique and complicated navigation bar can be fun and exciting, however, if the users are required to learn how to use it then most likely they will leave your website. Try to stick with the standard horizontal navigation bars that most websites use. This will provide a navigation system that almost all users will instinctively be able to use. Try to keep the amount of headings to about 5 – 8. You don’t want too many different pages but you also don’t want to clutter your content.

3. No clutter please When it comes to writing content for your website, it is easy to get distracted from what’s important and to just overload with unnecessary text and images. Users want to be able to access the information they need quickly and precisely so avoid creating long paragraphs and try to simplify it; use bullet points or tables. A principle that a lot of web designers use is the Pareto principle. The Pareto principle states that “roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes”. Now to translate that into website design, this means that 20% of the content on the page should display 80% of the overall information and result. Try to keep the important stuff above ‘the fold’. The fold is the area of the site that users can see without scrolling. The fold is important as this is the first part of the website the users will see on any page.

4. Choose the right colour scheme and font Try to select appropriate colours and fonts, and stick to it! It is easy to pick a load of different colours and implement them everywhere on your site, but a simple design will take you a long way. Try to create a colour palette of about 2-3 different colours. This will help to create a clean and consistent appearance. Picking colours is easy; the difficult part is how to use them. A useful way to use colours is to highlight what’s important. Choose a font that is easy to read, you have to take consideration of the different sizes of screens or even platform. Users will access your website from a desktop pc or a mobile device. The font should accommodate the two platforms to create a website that is easy to read and looks great.

5. Choosing the right graphics Images are a great way to represent information or make a site look good. Make sure the graphics you use are related to the information on the page and are high quality. Always use high resolution pictures. This will ensure the images do not appear pixelated. Using original photos are a great way to show authenticity of a business. Invest in professional photography to catch user’s attention.

6. Use space effectively Using the space available can affect the overall experience. Create space between paragraphs and images to give the user ‘breathing space’. The ‘white space’ can help to control the flow of the website and helps to guide users from one bit of information to the next. When it comes to creating a website, always think about the users and how you want them to perceive you as a business. Keeping a site simple and clean will help to create an easy to use site but also helps keep it future proof. Simple is the new web design standard of the future and more and more companies are designing simply. Think about the important stuff and get rid of what is unnecessary.